Tournament has had plenty of memorable moments

Now in its 68th year on the Monterey Peninsula, the Crosby/AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has seen its share of memorable moments over the years. Here are some of the major anniversaries being commemorated this week.

50 years ago

The 1963 tournament featured a stellar field including Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, who a year before had broken his own record for money earned in a season. It would be one of the craziest finishes ever.

In Thursday's opening round, Julius Boros shot 66 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club thanks to birdies on seven of his last 10 holes to take a 2-shot lead over a number of players including George Bayer and Dave Hill. On Friday, Hill, a pro from Denver, took over the top spot with a 69 for a two-day total of 138. Billy Casper, who won the 1958 Clambake, was one back after a 65 at MPCC while Palmer and Nicklaus were three behind.

A day later, unknown Bob Duden took the lead after shooting a 67 at MPCC. With his score, Duden took a 1-stroke lead over Casper and Boros. With his army expecting a charge, Palmer instead was disqualified in the third round. On the 17th tee at Pebble Beach, Palmer knocked his tee shot (a 2-iron) over the green. Thinking his ball had flown into the ocean, he re-teed and hit another ball. As he approached the green, officials relayed the news that his first ball was indeed in play, but lay in the rocks on the beach area below. Looking to save strokes, Palmer opted to play the ball in the rocks. Later, however, officials stated that Palmer had hit an unauthorized provisional ball (his second tee shot). He was hence disqualified, marking the first time in 48 events that "The King" would finish out of the money.

In the final round, it came down to the last hole. Casper, who began the final round one behind, entered the clubhouse with the lead at 285 following a 74. Meanwhile, back on the course, Hill, Player, Nicklaus, Duden, Bob Rosburg and Art Wall still had their chances.

Duden shot himself out of the running by three-putting the 18th, while Player missed a 30-foot birdie try on 18 to tie Casper. Rosburg, Hill and Wall also failed to make critical putts.

On the tee at 18, Nicklaus needed a birdie to win and a par to tie, but he pushed his second shot behind a tree. Nicklaus hit a spectacular hook shot around the tree but landed 30 feet past the hole. He missed his first putt and his second, a 6-footer, giving Casper the title by a stroke.

"I want to thank Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus for being Santa Claus," Casper said afterward.

Lost amid Casper's win was the fate of Colorado pro Dale Douglass. In the final round, Douglass tied a record he didn't want by carding a 19 on the par-4 10th.

30 years ago

The two names that stood out entering the 1983 AT&T Pro-Am were Tom Watson and Craig Stadler. A year earlier, Watson won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. In the 1982 Pro-Am, Stadler had shot his way out of the tournament when he hit his ball onto the rocks at No.17 in the final round.

Due to wet conditions, the first round was played under winter rules (lift, clean and place). As a result, there were a number of low rounds, including Joe Inman's 65 at Pebble Beach. One behind were Ken Green, who had a 66 at Spyglass Hill, and Fred Couples, who shot 66 at Cypress Point. Two behind were Watson and Dr. Gil Morgan.

In the second round, Green took the lead at 134 after a 68 at Pebble Beach. The score gave the 24-year-old unknown a 3-stroke lead over Jim Thorpe and Gary McCord. Inman fell from a 65 to a 75 at Cypress, while Couples had a 74 at Spyglass.

With rain falling, all eyes were on Green when the third round began. It was Tom Kite, however, who stole the show, shooting a course-record 62 at Pebble Beach. The 62, which included a chip-in wedge from 140 feet for birdie, gave Kite a two-shot lead over Green, Donnie Hammond and Rex Caldwell. The previous Pebble Beach record was 64 by Rod Funseth during the 1972 Crosby.

"I had a whole lot of good breaks out there," said Kite, who went 31-31 on his nines. "I had to clean my glasses every 20 steps. I was lucky, but that's what you have to do to have a 62 at Pebble Beach."

With rain again falling, the final round became a three-man duel between Kite, Caldwell and Calvin Peete. Caldwell took the lead with birdies at No. 1 and No. 2, but slipped to a double-bogey on No. 3. Peete had an eagle on the 14th to get to 10-under, but bogeyed the 15th. Kite, then 34, was steady enough to take a five-stroke lead with four holes to play. He bogeyed the 15th, 16th and 17th holes, but parred the 18th for a 73 and a 2-stroke win over Peete and Caldwell.

"Needless to say, I made it look a whole lot tougher than it's supposed to be," Kite said. "I guess I was a little anxious to get my name on the (trophy) glass."

10 years ago

There was Hale Irwin's bounce off the rocks, but this was different. The 2003 AT&T Pro-Am saw Kevin Sutherland take the first-round lead with a 66 at Pebble Beach.

In the second round, Jim Furyk took over the top spot with a 66 at Poppy Hills thanks to birdies on his three final holes. With his score, Furyk had a 1-stroke lead over five players, including Paul Stankowski, Tom Lehman and Sutherland. Two behind were former Pro-Am champs Mark O'Meara and Davis Love III.

The leaderboard would again change in Saturday's third round, as Love III claimed the lead at 10-under 206 after a 67 at Spyglass Hill. A group of three players, including Mike Weir and Tom Lehman, were two behind.

"It's nice to come out on top after three days, but we've got another day at Pebble," said Love III regarding his final round chances. "But being the leader is a lot better."

In the final round, Love III came to the tee at the par-3 12th clinging to a 1-stroke lead. Going with a 5-iron, his tee shot was headed toward the back rough when it instead landed on a photographer's foot and bounced 4 feet from the pin. Instead of facing a bogey or worse, Love III made birdie.

The fortunate kick helped Love III win. Playing a group ahead, Lehman was tied with Love III on the 18th tee but missed the green on his second shot. Lehman's third shot, a lob from off the green, landed within 5 feet of the cup, setting up a birdie try, but Lehman missed the putt.

Back on the fairway at 18, Love III followed up a booming drive by knocking his second shot to within 10 feet of the pin. Love missed his eagle putt but made birdie for a final round 68 and a one-shot win over Lehman.

"Unbelievable," said Lehman, hearing about Love's adventures at 12.

For Love III, the win was his first since the 2001 Pro-Am. During the week, Love stayed with good friends Jim and Gail Griggs of Pebble Beach. Afterward, Love III presented Jim Griggs with the trophy.

"I needed this one bad, but winning here makes it even more special," Love III said. "What a great way to cap another special week."